Parents turn in 13-year-old daughter over nude pics on cell, tablet

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DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- A Dinwiddie mother got a nasty shock when she went through her daughter's cell phone and tablet. The pictures she discovered were so disturbing that she turned the girl in to sheriff's deputies.

The parents discovered their 13-year-old daughter, who is about to enter the eighth-grade, had been sending and receiving naked pictures of other teens using her tablet.

And the deeper they dug, the worse it got. In fact, things got so bad they called in the sheriff's department to investigate.

"What scares me is, this is much bigger than we realize. How many others are doing this and you don't realize it," asked the Dinwiddie County mother of two.

CBS 6 News is not revealing her name to protect her family's identity.

The parents said that they called in the sheriff's office to protect their daughter even though she could face criminal charges.

"We did this now to protect her for now and in the future, because this could get worse. She could be taken," she said.

Commonwealth's Attorney Lisa Caruso said there are other options for the teen, not necessarily going through the court system.

"What's called diversion in the juvenile justice system. That's a 12 week program and it would be group classes. The parents would get involved [and] there would be some counseling," Caruso said.

However, the older teens could face felony charges depending on their ages.

The mother said while some may criticize their decision to go to sheriff's investigators, they did so out of fear. They did not want someone to see the pictures and try to find their daughter.

"What she's facing may be harsh, but we feel it's for her own protection," the mother said.

And the mother has important advice for other parents to keep their children from accessing dangerous apps.

"Please put parental controls on everything. I was informed that if you take it to the store... wherever store you buy it from, they can put all kinds of locks and controls in place, so that they can't access these apps," she said.

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66 comments

kjh

There is nothing harsh about what they did. This is good solid parenting and others should follow their example! I would much prefer to read an article on how they’re being proactive with this situation than read an article months or even weeks from now about this child in a far worse situation. Our society has changed and not for the better. We as parents are the first line of defense in protecting our children and that’s what we should be doing at all costs! Kudos to them!!

I don’t suppose it ever occurs to parents these days to actually take the tech gadgets away from children that are far too immature to use responsibly without strict supervision… heaven help us if we actually have to parent our children instead of calling the police in when we fail to do so before it gets out of hand like this…
The first line of defense is offense. These parents failed.

John Doe

Getting the government involved in parenting your child is NEVER a good idea. What will happen to her daughter is now out of her hands and left to some government cronie interested in making headlines and getting re-elected. Her daughter may now end up with a felony conviction that will follow her for the rest of her life. Idiots!

andrea411

Good parenting can be very difficult. I pray great rewards for her parents and their children. When she grows up, she will be bragging to her friends about how strict her parents were and telling her own kids about how much they loved her.

jake

My God THis Was A Horrible Decision By The Parents! The Court System Does Not Work For You, They Will JuSt Lock Her Up As Soon As They Can Someone Explain to Me How GivingyYour Child A Felony Charge Is Good Parenting, How Could Anyone In Their Right Minds Do This!. I ThougGt Parenting Was Supposed To Teach Your Child To Do The Right Thing, Not Let The System Mess Up The Rest Of Her Life! Oh My Gosh I Feel So Sorry For This Poor Girl Because Now She Has A Felony Charge Just Waiting For hWe Because Her Parents Are ToI Lazy To Parent!

jake

John Doe

I agree. Giving their daughter a criminal record was the worst mistake of their lives. She now has a felony record and her life may be ruined for a silly childish mistake. Good going idiots. The police are not there to help you parent your kids, they are there to put people in jail.

DanL.

So dumb… laws regarding this sort of stuff are whipped up by frenzied crazies. Did the parents think about the fact that their daughter could possibly be found guilty of possessing child porn? Especially if she forwarded any of what was sent to her. Besides going after people that sent her pics… she’s an EASY target the cops. And so many states have made sexual laws like that stick on your record for life. They could have easily just stuck a few dozen kids, including her friends, and their own child with ‘sexual predator’ type records that never ever go away.

carrie

This is a 13 year old child. She is likely too young to understand the ramifications of sexting. Those 17/18 year old boys are certainly old enough to know better. It may be harsh, but at some point the children need to be made aware that these things are not acceptable.

And since we can not look over their shoulders every minute we need all the help we can get. If it requires that the police put the fear in them, so be it.